silent green Kuppelhalle:
 Female Artists Program

For the 13th time, Arsenal is presenting the film projects of grant holders who have received funding from the Female Artists' Program of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion in the past two years.

The Female Artists Program offers filmmakers and artists living in Berlin a valuable opportunity to acquire support to develop and realize their projects. It provides a refuge that gives space to diverse artistic voices and enables them to flourish. In times of crisis, increasing hostility towards democracy, and precarious living conditions for artists in particular, the program provides important encouragement to continue pursuing an artistic path against the odds.

Artistic positions and practices that allow for ruptures and ambiguities will be discussed in workshops. Many of the funded works examine hegemonic narratives, explore the interplay between memory and history and the need to reevaluate them, and seek new impulses for viewing and experiencing history and stories in the face of global crises. The focus is on questioning dominant ideological attributions critically, exploring the potential of peripheral themes, and collaborative forms of work as acts of artistic resistance.

We open the program on 30th October with Antonia Cattans' first feature film CUITÁ, STONE FROM THE SKY (Germany/Brazil 2025). In Canudos, a community in Brazil's Sertão region, young people audition for a casting call. During the shoot, they talk about their desires and reflect on their past, their identities, and their lives in the face of the harsh reality of the Brazilian hinterland. We look forward to exchanging ideas with the filmmakers, artists, and audience members.

Project presentations by: Barbora Berezňáková, Gali Blay, Antonia Cattan, Kesmat Elsayed with Laura Kloeckner, Pary El-Qalqili, Sedi Ghadiri, Toni Karat, Nazgol Kashani, Mina Keshavarz, Adèle Perrin, Katja Pratschke, Hanna Prenzel with Aline Bonvin, Sver Immel and Irene Izquierdo, Ewelina Rosinska, Sondos Shabayek, Irma-Kinga Stelmach, Sarnt Utamachote, Steffi Wurster – With the kind support of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. A printed program will provide insight into these and other funded works. (Angelika Ramlow)